There is often a need to limit the flow of a material within a system or device to one direction. Check valves are often employed for this purpose. Check valves are configured to allow flow of material in a forward direction and to not allow flow of material in a reverse direction. Check valves come in various sizes and types.
Some devices require compact and/or efficient check valves that meet certain operating requirements. One example, is an inkjet printing device wherein there is a desire to prevent ink from draining in a reverse direction from a printhead back to an ink supply. If enough ink were to drain out of the printhead, then the printhead may fail to function properly. Furthermore, many such printing devices are designed to be compact, and or requiring little maintenance.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a check valve that is compact, efficient, and/or robust enough to provide such protection within such a printing device. These and other desires may also apply to the design of other types of devices or systems.